


Baking and Bonding

by ImOutOfMyVulcanMind (LoopyLu94)



Category: Batman - All Media Types
Genre: Baking, Batfamily (DCU), Family Bonding, Fluff, Gen, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, batmom
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-20
Updated: 2020-01-20
Packaged: 2021-02-19 01:23:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,904
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22336252
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LoopyLu94/pseuds/ImOutOfMyVulcanMind
Summary: Batmom spends a Saturday afternoon baking and ends up bonding with Damian
Relationships: Damian Wayne & Reader, Damian Wayne & You
Comments: 3
Kudos: 164





	Baking and Bonding

It was Saturday, and for once the manor was quiet in a good, peaceful way, rather than the dreadful silence that filled the empty rooms when Bruce and the boys were out on patrol. You’d decided to spend some of the day baking for no reason other than you hadn’t in a while. Things had been hectic of late, but now everything was settled again, you’d decided it was a nice way to relax. 

Just as you finished pulling out the ingredients you needed, you heard quiet footsteps come padding down the hall. A few seconds later Damian appeared in the doorway of the kitchen. He paused, looked at you for a moment, then proceeded to make himself a sandwich. 

“Finished your homework?" 

"I completed it hours ago, Y/N. It was child’s play.”

Of course, it was. You let it drop, turning your attention to the task of measuring out your ingredients. You’d expected Damian to disappear again with his food, so it was a surprise when instead he took a seat on the other side of the kitchen island. 

“What are you doing?” He asked after a mouthful. 

“I’m baking some cupcakes for us.”

“Why?”

You shrugged, “I find baking relaxing, and making something for people is a nice way to show you care.”

Damian hummed and said nothing more as he finished his sandwich. He watched you still though, taking in every movement. It was another surprise that he remained even after he was done, but you weren’t opposed to it. He’d slowly started to spend more time around you recently, something you greatly approved of. Even him sitting silently around you was a major improvement to how he’d been when he’d first come to live with you. 

“You aren’t following a recipe?" 

"I am, I just know it by heart.” It was clear Damian was interested, and you knew well enough that his mother would’ve never baked for him or with him. But if you asked him outright if he wanted to help, he’d bolt. “Do me a favor and set the oven at 350?" 

Damian moved immediately to do as you said and you smiled. Helping because you asked and not have to admit he really wanted to seemed to work. You gestured to the small box of cupcake cases and the tray next to it. "Put those into the tray for me too.”

Damian did as instructed, and you finished whisking all the ingredients together. He hovered next to you as you began to add the mixture to the cases. You let him watch how you did the first half, then silently offered him the bowl to finish the second. He took it, and carefully started work. He moved slowly, taking his time to ensure each case had the exact amount you’d put in yours. 

With two left he slipped and more went into one of the cases than it should. His eyes widened, looking panicked for a moment. You grabbed a teaspoon, quickly spooning the excess into the last case, and he relaxed again. You hated seeing him like that as if he thought you’d be mad at the simplest of accidents. 

You put the tray in the oven and turned back to the empty bowl. There was still some mixture clinging to the side and on the whisk, you’d used. With your pinky, you swiped some up and popped it into your mouth. Damian was watching you, looking more than a little horrified.

“Try it,” you coaxed, pushing the bowl towards him. 

Damian made a face, nose scrunching up. “There are several raw ingredients that can cause illness!" 

"Damian, I’ve been eating raw cake mix since I was younger than you, and not once have I ever gotten sick. Trust me, try a little?" 

He hesitated a moment longer, then copied your initial movement of swiping some onto his finger. His eyes went wide for a whole different reason this time, and you couldn’t help but chuckle. You twisted the whisk off the machine and offered it to him. Damian accepted it immediately, and yeah, watching him lick it clean was definitely the cutest thing. 

By the time you were done finishing the remnants of the batter and actually washing the bowl and utensils, the cakes were done. 

"Smells good, yeah?” You moved the cupcakes to a wire rack to cool, not failing to notice the look in Damian’s eyes as he sized them up. 

He nodded. “What do we do now?" 

"We make the icing while the cakes cool.” Now that he was fully invested, you talked him through what you needed and how much. You could see him absorb everything he was told. Pulling out the bottles of food coloring you kept stashed away, you laid them in front of him.“ Want to pick what colors we use?" 

Damian thought a moment then picked out the red, green and yellow bottles. You smiled and put the rest away. You split the icing into three bowls and added the food coloring. He watched intently as you made up the piping bags. 

"Come here,” you said, motioning for him to come and stand in front of the now cool cakes. Handing him one of the bags, you stood behind him, hands over his, and guided him in icing the first cake. You did a few more with him until the first color was gone, and he seemed to have the hang of it. You let him do the rest by himself, looking on at the intense concentration on his face, tongue poking out just a little as he threw all his attention into getting the icing just right. They were a little scruffy, but for his first time, they were pretty damned good. 

“You’ve got a knack for this!” You smiled, clearing away the dirty bowls. Damian smiled back, just slightly. He’d never admit it, but you spotted the pride. “Now for the final touches!” You pulled out some candy, a variety of little things you could put on top. “Half each?" 

You split the cupcakes, six each, and set about adding the pieces of candy as you liked, setting them onto a large plate once you were done. It wasn’t how you’d planned to spend your baking afternoon. Having Damian around you, completely relaxed and happy for once made it a million times better. 

You finished your cakes but kept one to the side. "This one’s for you,” you said, sliding it over to him. He looked down at the red icing with the large ’D’ written in chunks of candy. 

“Thank you,” he spoke softly, then was suddenly presenting you with another cake. You hadn’t even noticed him keep one back, but apparently, you’d had the same idea. The icing was yellow, one of the cakes you’d decorated together. On top was a large ‘U’. “It’s for 'Ummi’. Talia…disliked me using it, but it means mother.” The words were so quiet you barely heard him, but you did, and you’d be lying to say you weren’t nearly crying. 

Damian wasn’t looking at you, so you reached out to coax his head up. “I think it’s beautiful. Thank you.”

There was that smile again, and you swore at that moment to wreak hell on anyone who ever hurt him. He’d been your son from the moment he’d stepped into the manor, despite the less than favorable things he said to you. You’d accepted that unlike the other boys, he might not ever reciprocate the notion. But this, now, it meant he did, and the only reason you didn’t say how much you loved him was that it’d inevitably embarrass him. 

“Can we try them?" 

You almost didn’t want to eat yours. A part of you wanted to keep it and preserve it forever, but Damian already had his in hand, and you didn’t have the heart not to eat yours too, even if it was for a good reason. 

"Of course.” You picked yours up and held it out, offering up a mock cheer as he 'clinked’ his against yours. You peeled the wrapper off and took a bite. It was good. Really good. 

Damian actually moaned. Which answered the question of whether he liked it or not. “Can we keep these just for us?” He asked around his mouthful. 

You laughed. They had been for the family, but it was utterly impossible for you to say no to him at that moment. “They’ll be our secret.”

“Todd will scoff them all if he sees them.”

“Then we won’t let him see them.” You took a container and set the rest of the cakes in it before putting it away in the small cupboard that was designated yours. Not even Bruce dared go in it without permission. “Just us.”

Another smile. What you wouldn’t give to see that as often as possible. “Thank you for allowing me to help you.”

“You’re welcome. We can do it more if you want.”

“You would be amenable to that?" 

"Of course. I know a lot of recipes, or if there’s anything you want, we can do that.”

Damian nodded, quiet a moment. “There is one thing we could perhaps make one day. A honey cake. Talia would allow me to have it on occasion, and…it’s one of my favorite things.”

“We can do that. How about I look up a recipe and next weekend we can go get the ingredients and make one?" 

Damian looked shocked. "Next week? I haven’t done anything though.”

“Done anything?" 

"Talia would only permit me having some if I overly excelled in a task that was usually designed for me to fail.”

For a second, you saw red. For too many reasons for you to fully process at the moment. You knelt down so you were eye level with him. “I’m not going to hold a thing you love over your head like a carrot on a stick, Damian. I want you to be happy, and if a honey cake makes you happy then I need no other reason.”

A moment passed and you saw a look of hesitation on Damian’s features. Then he was wrapping his arms around your shoulders, squeezing tightly. You didn’t even have to think about it. You wrapped your arms around the boy in return, hugging him back as tightly as he hugged you. This was a first, and you hoped it wouldn’t be a last. 

“No one has ever said that to me before,” he whispered into your neck. 

You squeezed him a little closer. “If it’d make you smile, I’d make you anything you wanted, every week until I was so grey and old it’d be a danger to let me in a kitchen.”

Damian pulled back, though his hands still rested on your shoulder. “Then it will be my turn to bake for you.”

“Yeah.” You reached up to smooth over and a wild chunk of hair that had gotten ruffled. “You’re a good boy, Damian, and no matter what you do I’ll always be proud of you.”

For a heartbeat, you thought he was going to cry, but then he was hugging you again. “I am glad to have you, Ummi.”

“And I, you, sweetheart.”

You didn’t say 'I love you’, but at that moment you didn’t need to. He knew. And for the first time, you knew he loved you back.


End file.
